Purdue football notes pre-Illinois/post-Iowa

Check out Wednesday's Post-Tribune for
extensive Purdue coverage as it plays at Illinois, needing two more wins to
gain bowl-eligibility after last week's at Iowa. But here are some additional
items from Tuesday's media availability ...

-- East Chicago's Kawann Short (ankle)
clearly was feeling better against Iowa, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of
the Week honors, after he was limited against Penn State, having initially
suffered the injury at Minnesota.

Purdue's defensive line in general was
healthier against the Hawkeyes, with end Ryan Russell (knee, ankle) and tackle
Bruce Gaston (hamstring) getting closer to 100 percent.

Still, coach Danny Hope termed defensive tackle
Brandon Taylor (ankle) as doubtful against Illinois, after he has missed the
last two games.

However, Hope said it's "50-50" that kickoff
returner Raheem Mostert (knee) would return against the Illini, after he has
missed the last four games.

After each had a big game against Iowa,
quarterback Robert Marve (25-of-33 for 266 yards, two touchdowns) and running
back Ralph Bolden (102 yards on 14 carries) both emerged from the game in good
shape.

"Guys playing in a ballgame with the
circumstances they've had from an injury standpoint, that really exemplifies
what college football is all about, guys who want to be out there with their
teammates and helping them win and really doing the extraordinary," Hope said.

And more on Marve: "Just the courage to go out there, to play in the
game from a health standpoint and the unknown part of it on any play, it may
not hold up. And then there's also dealing with the pain and everything that
goes with that. His toughness, no question about it. I think it speaks for
itself. Just the passion that he has for the game and being on the field with
his teammates is something I think is just really special and refreshing in a
lot of ways."

Tight end Gabe Holmes is probable after
absorbing a hit to the ribs.

-- Hope was asked if he regretted not starting
Marve sooner, after the sixth-year senior was able to return to the field
following the ACL injury he suffered at Notre Dame.

"He
is quite a force, but we had a quarterback (Caleb TerBush) that had started 13
games the season prior to that, and we had a winning season," Hope said. "Caleb
had done a great job throughout the 2011 season in regards to ball security; he
had gone 20 quarters without throwing a pick, had thrown for over 62 percent
completion. So we had a good, winning, experienced quarterback coming back. ...
Caleb had the edge, and had proven he could do it on Saturdays on a consistent
basis and put us in position to win.

"It came about as it
did, and a lot of that had to do with factors beyond our control, but we always
thought he (Marve) was a heck of a player. That's why we were committed to
playing two quarterbacks. We wanted to get Robert ready and get him on the
field, and see if he could make a difference and impact our football team. As
he got healthier and got more reps and played his position better, he certainly
can, and he certainly is."

-- Hope on freshman
kicker Paul Griggs making the game-winning 46-yard field goal at Iowa: "It can
be a huge career-builder in some ways. It can be a difference-maker. Four
years ago, Carson Wiggs came out against Ohio State and hit a 59‑yarder, and gave us a big
edge in the ballgame and really gave our team a lift; it was a difference-maker
in a huge ballgame. And I thought that really impacted his kicking career at
Purdue, how he went about his preparation and his commitment to it. I thought
that was a huge kick for him. I would assume that the kick this past weekend
for Paul Griggs could be a career kick or a difference-maker in his career in a
lot of ways. Very similar scenarios."

He added: "I saw him
go by on a cloud earlier, but other than that, we haven't practiced much. He'll
shank a couple in practice, and we'll get him back to earth pretty quick, I
assure you of that. It won't last long; it never does.

-- Hope on the
offensive line's better play against Iowa: "We came into the season with a
talented offensive line, but not a real experienced offensive line. ... For some
of these guys, the light is coming on in some of the technical aspects of their
game. ... We're more experienced now, and we're improving."

"He keeps getting
better and better," he said. "He's one of our better football players. He could
be a heck of a player here at Purdue. He's probably our top two or three players
on special teams, whether he's the off-returner or kickoff return or the guy
you use on punt return. Wherever you play him at, he's very aggressive and very
fast and puts everything he has into his play. So I've really been impressed
with him. I think we hit the jackpot when we got Danny Anthrop here at Purdue."

-- Against Iowa,
redshirt freshman right guard Robert Kugler again graded out as Purdue's top
offensive lineman. ... Former quarterback Sean Robinson now is listed as the
starting weak-side linebacker ahead of Will Lucas, after Robinson had started
the last four games.

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Michael Osipoff

Staff writer Michael Osipoff covers Purdue football and basketball, the RailCats, boys and girls soccer, wrestling and girls tennis for the Post-Tribune. After winning three state writing awards in Virginia, he won first place for non-deadline sports reporting from the Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors and third place for deadline sports reporting in 2007; second place for best print feature from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2007; and second place for sports feature writing from the Hoosier State Press Association in 2004.